I said 1984 above on this one, but I was wrong. It was taken in 1985.

"Okay. Brian's hat in the previous picture is cool compared to Bruce's hippy headband. What year was this picture taken?"

Very late 1969 - early 1970.

"Californ-IA. What year was this picture taken?"

Looks like 1979 to me.

"A nice shot of the guys sitting on top of their records MINUS Johnston. He must've been busy writing songs for Barry Manilow. What year was this picture taken?"

1975.

"Obviously some article around the 'brian is back' era."

People Magazine, 1976.

"Looks like Mike and Brian are playing ATARI or something. What year was this picture taken?"

I'd say 1972-73, which is pre-Atari, isn't it?

"If you're trying to get someone into The Beach Boys, make sure they NEVER see this photo. I can picture VOLTRON in back of them. I really can. What year was this picture taken?"

1978.

"Mike Love needs to eat a meal. Brian looks out of it (I mean, REALLY, out of it). What year was this picture taken?"

1979.

"Al looks a little warmly dressed. What year was this picture taken?"

Looks like 1975. Definitely mid-70s.

"Brian Wilson looks like he was put there by use of Photoshop. Am I right or is it real? What year was this picture taken?"

1970-71 and much too early for Photoshop. I'm pretty sure it's real -- Brian's in all the versions of the photo I've seen. It does look like Photoshop (or the analog technique) was used to fade down the background a bit. Note the sharp edges around Brian and Dennis.

What year was this picture taken?

Mid-70s, probably 1975-76.

"The Beach Boys shooting a video called RIO with Duran Duran (not shown). What year was this picture taken?"

Circa 1976, onbaord Dennis' beloved yacht, The Harmony

Probably taken a little after Dennis' death.

Yes, early 1984.

Carl Wilson -- a very dear voice and person, who is very much missed hereabouts.

Will you please let us know when avatar uploading has been activated? Thanks!

Charles (or is it Chuck), how about providing avatar hosting from this server, instead of having everyone link from everywhere else? That way avatar files won't suddenly disappear on us.

I'm not talking about photo hosting, just small avatar files.

Thanks!

I assume you're asking about BWPS, yes? If so, I wish they had skipped the studio recording altogether in favor of a live one. For example, the Carnegie Hall performance blows the studio version out of the water, imho.

The other thing is about "Good Vibrations" -- I have a strong dislike for the Asher lyrics, which sound like temp placeholders to me. I think it was a huge mistake not to use the hit version lyrics. At least then I wouldn't have to program the player to skip GV! (Although I do admit I like the symmetry of starting and ending with "Our Prayer.")

Billy Hinsche has an interview with Carl on his website, where they discuss gear.

The interview can be found at:
http://www.billyhinsche.com/story4.html

[Carl:]

Carl:
White Fender Telecaster with Bigsby:  You can see plenty of this guitar watching footage from 67-the end of the decade.  Seemingly took over as Carl's prefered on-stage six string guitar.

If this is the one he played during his 1981 solo tour, it's the one he called "Old Yeller" and it's a very early production model.

Epiphone 360TD Rivera 12 (more than one?):

At least two of them, both with Gibson headstocks. He used them in pairs during shows, with the guitar tech keeping one ready to go at all times.

Blonde Gibson 335: I'm not sure the dates on this one.

Carl had two of those too, although he seems to have retired one of them in the late '80s-early '90s.

Al must have either borrowed some of Carl's semi-hollow body 12 strings or got his own.

At least one of his own, I think.


Here's an old post I saved from Billy Hinsche on Carl's guitars, from a now-defunct message board. It goes into some detail on Carl's gear:

Re: Carl's guitars
Posted by Billy Hinsche on March 30, 1998 at 08:49:10:

I have been trying in vain to post this message for a few days. Apologies for posting it in this manner. This is in response to questions asked of me further down the board: When I first met Carl in '65 he was playing a Rickenbacker 360 Fireglow with a Fender Dual Showman amp. He also owned a Rickenbacher 360/ DBV64, a 360/12 and a Rose Morris designation #1993 with a dot neck and an F hole. He used a Guild Starfire VI at times (six string). His main axe became his Blonde Gibson 335 Custom/355 neck and Bigsby tremelo. He had the first production model "Olympic White" Fender Stratocaster. He called it "Old Yeller" when the color faded over time. At home he played a Cherry Red Gibson Dove and had a custom hand-made David Russel Young/a butterfly on the headstock (both six string acoustic). In the seventies he used my Epiphone Sheraton on the live album and on tour. He began using a Epiphone 360 TD Riviera/ a Gibson neck and slim "Johnny Smith" pickups (12 string) in the eighties. He had several of these for backup. He also had a Blonde Gibson 335 dotneck reissue (backup for the A system) and a Blonde 345 (backup for the B system). He played a black Takamine acoustic six string with built-in electronics for "Heaven" in concert. He had a white solid body electric six string made by Charvel (?) It is pictured in both the ESQ and BBFC newsletters this month. Before I elaborate on amps, etc. I want to see if I can now post this message. Thanks to Jeff Foskett for helping me with some of the details contained herein. Billy Hinsche

I'm interested, especially about all the guitars they used.

A raw, rockin' album from Carl. Very fun to listen to. Dig the outtake "Where We Are".

Outtakes??!! Oh, wow! I'd love to hear those.

Carl's solo albums are no POBs (or "Feel Flows" for that matter), but I still enjoy listening to them. It's his amazing voice, it gets under my skin in a way none other does. I love his version of "Rockin' All Over the World"!

Also, best album cover photo on any BB-related product!  I've got a poster of it, personally signed by Carl, hanging up proudly at home.

5 for the great pics of CARL on it.

Brother John, I'm with you. I also think that Carl turned in the best set of vocals on the first part of "Surf's Up." By chance perhaps, but he did such an expressive -- and sensual -- version of the song in a way that no one else could. It's by far my favorite version of SU.

I'm a fan of KTSA and I'm not ashamed to admit it! The title track is a good solid rocker -- should've been a single -- and "Goin' On' and "Santa Ana Winds" are classics. All imho, of course.

I still remember when the Beach Boys appeared on the *Fridays* TV show to promote KTSA. It was one of their best showings (imho). Carl rocked out on the title track, with the guys singing punchy harmonies behind him, for their first number. The second part was the best by far. They started with "Good Vibes" and segued into "Goin' On." Carl was truly on fire for GO, and the whole group came alive in those delicious harmonies.

*Surf's Up* is also in my personal top 5, right after *Wild Honey* and *Sunflower.*

640 x 480 fixed -- can't go any larger.

Why won't the poll let me vote? Is it because I tried to rate LY at "0"??

Well, anyway I'm firmly in the "hate it" camp. LY always sounds to me like the guys were slacking off with a contractual obligation album. I really tried to like this one -- I heard some of the songs done live ("Airplane") before I heard the recorded versions, and the recording was a huge letdown after hearing the live versions.

Bruce Johnston played the bass on 'I Was Made To Love Her'?

Bruce played bass on the song "Wild Honey." Not sure about the rest of the album.

I'm using SAF green, and I'm seeing the scroll bars independently of what theme I'm using.

IMHO, *Today* is Brian's masterpiece album.

After 30+ years, *Pet Sounds* is still a mid-range album to me, which has a couple of truly great songs on it (GOK and "Caroline, No"). Mostly, PS is not enough rock- and/or blues-oriented for my tastes.

Who played the bass on Wild Honey?

That would be Bruce Johnston on bass.

As a lot of you already know, *Wild Honey* is my favorite album of all time. I love it for it's looseness, low-key production, the exuberant singing (especially Carl's), and for the songwriting, which I think is especially strong on WH.

Charles, please check your email. I've sent you a screenshot of the problem. I'm on a Mac running OS 8.6.  I've tried three different browsers, two of which (IE 5.2 and iCab 3.0) work properly with this site. Both of those have the aforementioned scroll bars. I've tried changing all the settings I can find, with no luck.

Also, can you add the South Park Boys to the alternate board themes? They disappear when I log in. Thanks!

One thing I just LOVE about this new site, is that you can make the fonts bigger using your Windows "View - Text Size" settings.

I still wish there was a way to get rid of those foda internal scroll bars in messages. It makes them very hard to read on a small monitor.

I don't like any of the choices above. I'm using SAF green, which is the least objectionable imho.

Thanks for all your hard work here, Charles.

How do I set the preferences so I can see the whole message at once, without any scroll bars?? I'm on a Mac, using iCab and OS 8.6.